1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the internet. In particular, this invention relates to a method and system for determining overall content values for one or more content elements or groups of content elements in a website or network of sites, and optimizing internet traffic flow through the website or network of sites.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Conventionally, the work of determining the value of a web site and of optimizing traffic through such web site to maximize the value of the web site have focused on analyzing the revenue generated on every page of the web site in isolation. Such a conventional approach is depicted in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a web page P is shown having three revenue-generating components, A, B and C. In conventional methods, the revenue from each component is added up to determine the revenue value of the web page:$A+$B+$C=R  (Equation 1)
Once the revenue value R for each page is determined, the overall revenue of the web site or network of sites (RNet) may be determined by simply adding together the revenue value R for each page P, such that:R1+R2+R3 . . . RN=RNet  (Equation 2)
Traffic has then typically been guided (such as through content promotion or advertising) to the pages of the web site or network of sites that are determined to generate the highest revenue per page. However, a visit to a web site by a user is usually not limited to viewing one page, but to viewing a network of interconnected pages, in a dynamic equilibrium, as depicted in FIG. 2A. FIG. 2A illustrates a web site 200 made up of a plurality of interconnected pages. In FIG. 2A, each of the pages P1 through Py represents a web page within the web site 200. In some cases, web site 200 may be a network of web sites. The network of sites may be, for example and without limitation, a plurality of commonly managed or commonly owned sites; an advertising network of sites, where ads may be sold by one entity or by a plurality of related or unrelated entities; and/or a collection of other websites provided by related or unrelated entities that have decided to pool resources in order to optimize their revenue. For sake of simplicity, references in the application to a web site should also be read to refer to a network of web sites where appropriate.
As shown in FIG. 2A, each page, Pi, in web site 200 may include links, represented by the arrows between pages, that allow a user on that particular page to jump to another page within the web site. FIG. 2B illustrates another group of interconnected content elements in a static sequential arrangement, as is also known in the prior art. The illustration of FIG. 2B may be used to serve a lengthy video episode wherein the video episode is divided into a plurality of segments each having a predetermined running time and advertising content is served between the plurality of video segments. Although not explicitly depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, it should also be understood that the interconnected equilibrium also includes the further option of exiting from the web site 200 from any of the pages P1 through Py (or during any of the video segments or ads), which may be accomplished simply by closing the web browser, clicking on a link (such as in a “favorites” list) to another website, or manually inputting a URL of another web site. It is a drawback of traditional methods of determining the value of web pages and web sites that this interconnected equilibrium is all but ignored, and only the revenue generated on a single page is taken into account in determining the value of that page.
Furthermore, with current evaluation methods, the focus of optimization has been on traffic acquisition, which deals with present or immediate value, but which does not take into account future value arising from subsequent pages viewed by a user during a visit to the particular website or network of sites. Current methods that do not take into account the value associated with the subsequent or “next page” future traffic flow of a user during a website visit do not allow the publisher of the web site to adequately optimize the revenue generated by that web site. Rather, by using currently known methods, traffic is optimized on the basis of the immediate revenue that can be generated by a single given web page, without taking into account the total revenue potential for each visit to the web site or network of sites.
Conventional methods that do not take into account the value of traffic flow do not properly value, or allow for adequate optimization of, the revenue generated by a web site or network of sites. Traffic is generally managed on the basis of the immediate revenue that can be generated, without taking into account the total revenue potential for each visit/view. The inventive method overcomes this drawback by focusing on the entire web site or network of sites and by taking into account value generated from the user's journey through the site(s), reflecting the potential for a user to generate revenue once that user has landed on a particular page within the website or network of sites.
There is a need in the industry for a method of determining overall dollar (or other) value of a web page, web site, and/or network of web sites that takes into account what happens after a user enters the web site or network of sites, and/or after a user views any particular page within the website or network of sites. In particular, there is a need for a method of measuring or determining the value (such as the dollar value) of attracting one additional user to a web page or other content element. There is a further need in the industry for a means of optimizing traffic flow within a web site or network of sites that takes into account the entire journey within the web site or network of sites taken by its visitors.